/>^/^ 


cy'T-' 


THE  CANADIAN 


liograjiliral  iirtiniiarij 


AND 


PORTRAIT  GALLERY 


OF 


EMIiNENT  AND  SELF-MADE  MEN. 


Ql;Klil':C  AND  MARITIMK  IMIOVINCKS  VOMJMK. 


CljiMBO,  X(U)  Vorit  niiQ  (Totonio  : 

ami<:ric.\\   iuoc.rai'iiical  i'uhlisiiing  company. 

II.    C.    COOlMvK,    JU.,    (C    CO.,     I'KOPKIKTOUS. 
IHMI. 


I      KAIIVKAI',  I'lllMKH.  UUIilllC. 


1: 


i>U)0'J'C"-J'U  'jjO'ii,0  Ui'^  'JJ  JU  J  'tis 

eiBLIOTHEQUE 

DE 

M.I-abbeVERREAU 

Xo. 

I  'Ifissr 

Di  risinii 

Si'r/f 


•fa  A 


(iiOiiCS'iO'iiOQ'a  uiiO'aoaC' 


was   b:i>r.\ 
of  Wii'lu. 


CIIEyiLIER  CMS.  P.  F.  BlILfilRGE,  ilS, 

QUEBEC. 


THE  subject  of  this  sketch,  who -'s  a  Chevalier  of  the  Order  of  St.  Saiiveur  de 
Monte  Reale,  Italy,  was  born  in  September,  1827,  and  lor  the  past  thirty- 
three  years  has  been  practising'  his  profession  as  an  engineer,  architect  and  sur- 
veyor, in  the  city  of  Quebec.  Since  1856  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Examiners  of  Land  Surveyors  for  the  province,  aiKl  since  1875  its  chairman  ;  he  is 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Generalization  of  Education  in  Erance  ; 
and  has  been  the  recipient  of  thirteen  medals  of  honour  and  of  seventeen  diplomas, 
&c.,  from  learned  societies  and  public  bodies  in  Erance,  Belgium,  Italy.  Russia, 
Japan,  &c.  Mr.  Baillairges  father,  v.-ho  died  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  G8,  was  borii 
in  Quebec,  and  for  over  thirty  years  was  road  surveyor  of  that  city.  Mis  mother, 
Charlotte  Janverin  Horsley,  who  is  still  living,  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
England,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Horsley,  R.N.  His  grandfather  on  the 
paternal  side,  P.  Elorent  Baillairge,  is  of  Erench  descent,  and  was  connected,  now 
nearly  a  centu'-y  ago,  with  the  restoration  of  the  Basilica,  Quebec.  The  wife  of 
the  latter  was  Mile  Cureux  de  St.  Germain,  also  of  Erench  descent. 

Our  subject  married,  in  1845,  Euphemie,  daughter  of  Mr.  Jean  Duval,  and 
step-daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Duval,  for  many  years  Chief  Justice  of  Lower 
Canada,  by  whom  he  had  eleven  children,  four  of  whom  only  survive.  His  wife 
dying  in  Eebruary,  1878,  he,  in  April  of  the  following  year,  married  Anne,  eldest 
daughter  of  Captain  Benjamin  Wilson,  of  the  English  navy,  by  whom  he  has 
one  son. 

Mr.  Baillairge  was  educated  at  the  Seminary  of  Quebec,  but,  findiu'--  the 
curriculum  of  studies  too  lengthy,  he  left  that  institution  some  time  before  the  ter- 
mination of  the  full  course  often  years,  and  entered  into  a  joint  apprenticeship  as 
architect,  engineer  and  surveyor.  During  this  apprenticeship  he  devoted  himself 
to  mathematical  and  natural  science  studies,  and  received  diplomas  for  his  profi- 
ciency in  1848,  at  the  age  of  21.  At  that  period  he  entered  upon  his  profession, 
and  for  the  last  fourteen  years  has  filled  the  post  of  city  engineer  of  Quebec,  is  ma- 
nager of  its  water  works,  and  since  1S75  has  been  engineer,  on  the  part  of  the  citv 
in  and  over  the  North  Shore,  Piles  and  Lake  St.  John  Railways. 


Mr  Baillair'^chas  held  successive  commissions  in  the  militia,  as  ensign,  lieu- 
tenant,  and  captain  ;  and  in  iS6o,  and  for  several  years  thereafter,  was  hydrogra- 
phic  surveyor  to  the  Quebec  Board  of  Harbour  Commissioners.  In  1861,  he  was 
elected  vice-president  of  the  AssoclaMon  of  Architects  and  Civil  Engineers  of 
Canada.  In  1858,  he  was  elected,  and  ayaia  in  1 861  unanimously  re-elected,  to 
represent  the  St.  Louis  ward  in  the  City  Council,  Quebec.  In  1863,  he  was  called 
for  two  y;ars  to  Ottawa,  to  act  as  joint  architect  of  the  Parliament  raid  Depart- 
mental  buildings,  then  in  course  of  erection.  Interests  of  considerable  magnitude 
w.;re  then  at  stake  between  the  Government  and  the  contractors,  claims  amounting 
to  ne.Tiy  half  a  million  of  money  having  to  be  adjusted.  In  connection  with  his 
employment  by  the  Government,  Mr.  Baillairge  found,  that  to  continue  his  services 
he  must  be  a  party  to  some  sacrifice  of  principle,  which,  rather  than  consent  to,  he 
was  indiscreet  enough  to  tell  the  authorities  of  the  ti' le.  This  excess  of  virtue 
was  too  mora'  for  the  appointing  power  and  more  than  it  was  disposed  to  brook 
in  an  employee  of  the  Government.  The  difficulty  was,  therefore,  got  over  by  giv- 
ino-  Mr.  Baillairge  his  feuille  dc  route,  a  compliment  to  his  integrity  of  which  he  has 
ever  since  been  justly  proud.     He  shortly  afterwards  returned  to  Quebec. 

During  his  professional  career,  Mr.  Baillairge  designed  and  erected  nume- 
rous private  residences  in  and  around  Quebec,  as  well  as  many  public  buildings, 
including  the  Asylum  and  the  Church  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  the  Laval  Univer. 
sity  building,  the  new  gaol,  the  music  hall,  several  churches,  both  in  the  city  and 
in  the  adjoining  parishes,  that  of  Ste  Marie,  Beauce  being  much  admired  on  account 
oft  e  beauty  and  regularity  of  its  interior.  The  "  Monument  dcs  Braves  de  1760" 
was  erected  in  i860,  on  the  St.  Foy  road,  after  a  design  by  him  and  under  his 
superintendence.  The  Government,  the  clergy  and  others  have  often  availed  them- 
selves of  his  services  in  arbitration  on  knotty  questions  of  technology,  disputed 
boundaries,  builders  claims,  surveys  and  reports  on  various  subjects. 

In  1S72,  Mr.  Baillairge  suggested,  and  in  1878  designed  and  carried  out 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Dufferin  Terrace,  Quebec,  a  struccure  some  1,500  feet 
in  I'.'ngth,  overlooking  the  St.  Lawrence  from  a  height  of  18:  feet,  and  built  along 
the  face  of  the  cliff  under  the  Citadel.  This  terrace  was  inaugurated  in  1878  by 
their  Excellencies  the  Marquis  of  Lome  and  II. R.I  I.  the  Princess  Louise,  who  pro- 
nounced it  a  si)lendid  achievement. 

In  1873,  Mr.  Baillairge  designed  and  built  the  aqueduct  bridge  over  the 
St.  Charles,  the  peculiarity  about  which  is  that  the  structure  forms  an  arch  as 
does  the  aqueduct  pipe  it  encloses,  whereby,  in  case  of  the  destruction  of  the  sur- 
rounding woo  1-work  by  fire,  the  pipe  being  self-supporting,  the  city  may  not  be 
deprived  of  water  while  re-constructing  the  frost-protecting  tunnel  enclosure. 


At  the  a^e  of  seventeen,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  built  a  double  cylindered 
steam  carrias.'-e  fir  traffic  on  ordinary  roads. 

From  1S48  to  1S65  he  delivered  a  series  of  lectures,  in  the  old  Parliament 
building's  and  elsewhcu-e,  on  astronomy,  light,  steam  and  the  steam  engine,  pneu- 
matics, acoustics,  geometry,  the  atmosphere,  and  other  kindred  subjects,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Canadian  and  other  Institutes  ;  and  in  i872,  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Literary  and  Historical  Society,  Quebec,  under  the  auspices  of  that  Institution,  he 
delivered  an  exhrustive  lecture  on  geometry,  mensuration,  and  the  stereometricon 
(a  mode  of  cubing  all  solids  by  one  and  the  same  rule,  thus  reducing  the  study  and 
labour  of  a  year  to  that  of  a  day  or  an  hour),  which  he  had  then  but  recently  in- 
vented, and  for  which  he  was  made  honorary  member  of  several  learned  societies, 
and  received  the  numerous  medals  and  diplomas  already  alhrJed  to. 

The  following  letter  from  the  Ministry  of  Pub'ic  Instruction,  Russia,  is 
worthy  of  insertion  as  explanatory  of  the  advantages  of  the  stereometricon  : 

RIlMSIKUK    DK    I.'InsTRUCTION    Puiil.IQUi;, 

Saint-Petersbourg,  le  '»  fevrier  1877. 
No.  1823, 

A  I\l.  Baillaikge, 

ArcJiitccte  a  Quebec, 

MoNSiEUU. — Le  comite  scientifique  du  ministere  de  I'lnstruction  Publique, 
(de  Russie),  reconnaissant  I'incontestable  utilite  de  votre  "  Tableau  Stereome- 
tri([ue"  pour  I'enseignement  de  la  geom'trie  en  general,  de  meme  que  pour  son 
application  pratique  a  d'autres  sciences,  eprouve  un  plaisir  tout  particuliera  joindre 
aux  suffrages  des  savants  de  I'Europe  et  de  I'Amerique  sa  complete  approbation, 
en  vous  informant  que  le  susdit  tableau,  avec  toutes  scs  applications,  sera  rccom- 
mande  aux  ecoles  primaires  et  moyennes,  pour  en  completer  les  cabinets  et  les 
collections  mathematiques,  et  inscrit  dans  les  catalogues  des  ouvn'ges  approuves 
par  le  ministere  de  I'lnstruction  Publique. 

On  fera.  en  outre,  des  dispositions  pour  faire  venir  de  TAmerique  a  Saint- 
Petcrsbourg  quelques  exemplaires  de  vos  editions,  et  vous  etes  prie  instamment, 
monsieur,  d'avoir  la  bonie  d'informer  le  coniit6  s'il  n'existe  pas  quelque  part  en 
Europe,  un  depot  de  vos  ouvrages  mathematiques. 

Agreez,  monsieur,  I'assu ranee  de  ma  haute  consideration. 

Le  chef  du  departement  au  ministere  de  I'lnstruction  Publique. 

E.  Die  Bkadkior. 


And  the  Quebec  Mercury,  of  the  loth  July,  1878,  hiis  the  following  hi  rela- 
tion to  a  second  letter  from  the  same  source  : 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  February,  1877,  Mr.  Haillairirc  received  an 
official  letter  from  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  of  St.  Petersbourg-,  Russia, 
informini^  him  that  his  new  system  of  mensuration  had  been  adopted  in  all  the  pri- 
mary and  medium  schools  of  that  vast  empire.  After  a  lapse  of  eighteen  months, 
the  system  having  been  found  to  work  well,  Mr.  Baillairge  has  received  an  addi- 
tionnal  testimonial  from  the  snme  source,  informiny^  him  that  the  system  is  to  be 
applied  in  all  the  polytechnics  schools  of  the  Russian  empire." 

Mr.  Baillairij^e  has  since  that  time,  given  occasional  lectures  in  both  lan- 
guages on  industrial  art  and  design,  and  on  other  interesting  and  instructive  topics, 
and  is  now  en'^^aged  on  a  dictionary  or  dictionnarles  of  the  consonances  of  both  the 
French  and  English  languages. 

In  1866,  he  wrote  his  treatise  on  geometry  and  trigonometry,  plane  and 
pherical,  with  mathematical  tables — a  volume  of  some  900  pages  octavo,  and  has 
since  edited  several  works  and  pamphlet  on  like  subjects. 

In  his  work  on  geometry,  which,  by  the  way,  is  written  in  the  French  lan- 
guage, Mr.  Baillairge  has,  by  a  process  explained  in  the  preface,  reduced  to  fully 
half  their  number  the  two  hundred  and  odd  propositions  of  the  first  six  books  of 
Euclid,  while  deducing  and  retaining  all  the  results  arrived  at  by  the  great  geo- 
meter. 

Mr.  Baillairge,  moreover,  shows  the  practical  use  and  adaptation  of  pro- 
blems and  theorems,  which  might  otherwise  appear  to  be  of  doubtful  utility,  as  of 
the  ratio  between  the  tangent,  whole  secant  and  part  of  the  secant  without  the 
circle,  in  the  laying  out  of  railroad  and  other  curves  running  through  given  points, 
and  numerous  other  examples.  His  treatment  of  spherics  and  of  the  affections  of 
the  sides  and  angles  is,  in  many  respects,  novel,  and  more  easy  of  apprehension 
by  the  general  student. 

In  a  note  at  foot  of  page  330,  Mr.  Baillairge  shows  the  fallacy  of  Thorpe's 
pretended  solution  of  the  trisection  of  an  angle,  at  which  the  i)oor  man  had  la- 
boured for  thirty-four  years,  and  takes  the  then  Government  to  task  for  granting 
Mr.  Thorpe  a  patent  for  the  discovery. 

In  February  1874,  he  visited  Europe,  and  it  was  on  the  15th  of  March  of 
ihat  year  that  he  received  his  first  laurels  at  the  "  Grand  Conservatoire  National 
des  Arts  et  Metiers,"  Paris. 


Mr.  Baillairge  lately  issued  a  report  on  the  defects  in  the  mode  of  building 
in  this  province,  and  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  Polytechnic  School  for 
the  Province  of  Quebec,  which  is  now  shortly  about  to  be  opened  in  the  provin- 
cial capital  under  Government  patrona,:j^e.  It  is  due  to  the  praiseworthy  efforts  of 
the  Rev.  Brother  Aphraates,  superior  of  the  order  of  Christian  Brothers,  and  of 
which  institution  Mr.  Baillairge,  it  is  understood,  is  to  be  professor  of  technology 
and  en^-ineerinix. 

Some  of  Mr.  Bailloirgc's  annual  reports  on  civic  affairs  are  very  interesting 
and  instructive  ;  that  of  1S7S,  on  "the  municipal  situation,"  is  particularly  worthy 
of  perusal.  His  report  ot  1872  was  more  especially  sought  after  by  almost  every 
city  engineer  in  the  Canadas  and  United  States,  on  account  of  the  varied  infor- 
mation it  conveyed.  It  may  also  be  remembered,  as  illustrative  of  the  versatility 
of  his  talent  and  of  his  humoristic  turn  of  mind,  that  a  comedy,  *'  Le  Dlable  De- 
venu  Cuisinier,"  written  by  him  in  the  French  language,  was,  in  1873,  played  in 
the  "  Music  Hall,"  and  again  in  the  "  Salle  Jacques  Cartier,"  Quebec,  by  tlie 
IMaugard  Company,  then  in  the  city,  to  the  great  merriment  of  ail  [)resent. 

Nor  will  the  members  of  "  Le  Club  des  21,"  composed  as  it  is  of  the  literati, 
scientists  and  artists  of  Quebec,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Count  of  Premio  Real, 
Consul-General  of  Spain  for  Canada,  soon  forget  how,  in  March,  1S79,  Mr.  Bail- 
lairge,  in  a  paper  read  at  one  of  the  sittings  of  the  Club,  around  a  well-spread 
board,  successively  portrayed  and  hit  off  the  peculiarities  of  each  and  every  mem- 
ber of  the  club,  and  of  the  count  himself,  while  at  the  same  time  doing  full  justice 
to  the  abilities  of  all. 

Mr.  Baillairge  is  a  close  and  industrious  worker,  devoting  fmrteen  hours 
out  of  the  twenty-four  to  his  professional  callings,  and  again  robbing  the  night  for 
the  time  to  pursue  his  literary  and  scientific  i)ursuits. 

In  politics,  if  he  may  be  said  to  have  any,  he  is  inclined  to  Liberalism,  but 
he  is  of  too  inde[)endent  a  character  to  be  tied  to  a  party,  preferring  to  treat  each 
question  on  its  merits,  irrespective  of  its  promoters. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  brother  to  G.  F.  B.iillairge.  D;puty  Minister 
of  Public  Works  of  the  Dominion,  and  grand  ne()hjw  to  I'Van^ois  Baillairge,  an 
eminent  painter  and  sculptor  "  de  TAcademic  Royale  de  Peinlure  et  SciiliJiure, 
France,"  who  carved  some  of  the  statues  in  the  Basilica,  and  whose  studio  in  St. 
Louis  Street  (the  quaint  old  owki  story  building,  now  Driscoll's  iiverj'  stable)  was 
at  that  time  so  often  visited  by  Prince  Fdward,  Uuke  of  Kent,  lather  of  Queen 
Victoria,  during  his  sojourn  in  Quebec, 


—  6  — 


A  portrait  of  Mr.  Baillairge,  but  which,  however,  does  not  do  him  justice, 
accompanied  by  a  brief  bio,^•rapllical  notice,  appeared  in  L Opinion  Pnbliqiic  of  the 
25th  April  1878.  The  Rivisfa  Universale,  of  Italy,  also  published  his  portrait  and 
a  biographical  sketch  of  Mr.  Baillairge  s  career,  in  February  of  1878. 


Since  the  above  was  edited,  in  1879,  Mr.  Baillairge  has  been  the  recipient 
of  the  following  additional  testimonials  : 

Royal  Canadian  Academy  of  Arts. 

Grenville  St.,  Toronto,  Jan.  7th  1880. 
DicAU  Sir, 

I  am  commanded  by  His  Excellency  the  Governot  General  (Marquis  of 
Lome)  to  inform  you  that  he  has  been  pieased  to  nominate  you  as  an  associate  of 
the  New  Canadian  Academy. 

(Signed),         L.  N.  O'BRIEN, 

Prcsvhnt. 


Royal  Society  of  Canada, 

Montreal,  March  7th  1882. 
Sir, 

I  have  the  honor  to  intimate  to  you  by  request  of  the  Governor  General 
(Marquis  of  Lome, )  that  Mis  Excellency  hopes  yo^  will  allow  yourself  to  be  named 
by  him  as  one  of  the  twenty  original  metnbers  of  The  Mathematical,  Physical  and 
Chemical  Section  of  the  New  Literary  and  Scientific  Society  of  Canada,  the  first 
meeting  of  which  will  be  held  at  Ottawa  on  the  25th  of  May,  Should  you  acceiJt 
be  good  enough  to  state  what  work  you  wish  associat'jd  with  your  name. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Sir 
Your  most  obedient, 

I.  STERRY  HUNT, 

President  of  the  Mathematical  Physical  &  Chemical  Section, 
C.  Baillairge  Esq. 


Hotel  dii  goitvernemcnt.  '     '   \ 

Quebec,  12  avril  1882. 
A  Monsieur  le  Chevalier  Baillairge,  Quebec 
AIdx  Cui;r  Monsikuu, 

Je  vous  prie  d'accepter  mes  siiiceres  remerciments  pour  I'envoi  que  vous 
m'avez  fait  d'une  serie  complete  de  vos  oeuvres  scientifiques,  ainsi  que  du  volume 
de  la  "  Galerie  "  ou  se  trouve  votre  biographic  et  votre  portrait.  J'ai  etc  tres  sen- 
sible a  cette  attention  de  votre  part  ;  vos  travaux  et  votre  reputation  qui  s'e.st  fait 
jour  meme  en  Euro[je  font  honneur,  permettez  moi  de  vous  le  dire,  a  notre  patrie 
et  a  la  nationalite  franco-canadienne.  Notre  jeune  pays  compte  encore  peu  d'illus- 
trations  dans  le  monde  de  la  science,  et  il  doit  etre  d'autant  plus  fier  de  ceux  de 
ses  enfants  qui  attirent  sur  eux  I'attention  des  hommes  dont  I'opinion  fait  autorite. 

Veuillez  accepter  ma  pliotogra;jhie  et  agroer.  Monsieur  le  Chevalier,  I'hom- 
mage  de  la  parfaite  consideration  avec  laquelle  j'ai  I'honneur  d'etre, 

Votre  obeissant  serviteur, 

THEODORE  RCBITAILLE. 
Lieutenant-Gouverneur  de  la  Province  de  Quebec. 


In  July  1882  Mr,  Baillairge  was  unanimously  elected  president  of  the  newly 
incorporated  body  of  Land  Surveyors  and  Engineers  of  the  Province  of  Quebec. 

Hotel  du  G Oliver ncmcnt. 

Quebec  iSjuin  1877. 

MoN'.SIl'-.UR, 

Permettez-moi  de  vous  offrir  mes  remerciments  pour  I'envoi  (|ue  vous  m'avez 
fait  de  votio  ouvrage  "  Traite  de  Gcometrie  et  de  Trigonometrie  qui  vous  fait  tant 
d'honneur  ainsi  qu'a  notre  pays. 

Comme  [iresident  de  la  Commission  Canailienne  a  Phi!aJe'phie  j'ai  eu  occa- 
sion de  faire  examiner  votre  tableau  stert^ometrique  par  les  re[)resentants  de  la 
Grande- Bretagne,  d(>  la  France,  de  I'Allemagne,  de  la  Russie,  de  I'Espagne,  du 
Portugal,  de  I'ltalie  et,  a  une  seule  exception  il  etait  connu  et  hautenient  apprecie 
par  eux  tou.\ 

Monsieur  Lavoinc,  Ingealcur  des  Ponts  et  Chaussees,  (ju(i  je  connus  i\  Phi- 
ladelphie,  ou  il  avail  la  direction  de  I'exposition  des  modeles  des  Travaux   Publics 


—  8  — 

de  France,  m'en  parla  alors,  de  meme  que  durant  une  visite  qu'il  me  fit  a  Ottawa, 
I'automne  dernier,  de  la  maniere  la  plus  flatteuse  pour  vous  et  pour  les  Canadiens. 
Je  suis  heureux.  Monsieur,  de  ces  temoignages  qui  vous  honorent  et  de 
savoir  que  vos  travaux,  tant  de  fois  couronnes  dans  votre  pays  et  h  I'etranger, 
viennent  de  I'etre  encore  a  I'Exposition  Universelle  de  i87'6  a  Philadelphie. 

Je  demeure, 

Monsieur, 

Votre  obeissant  serviteur, 

L.  LETELLIER. 

,  Lieut.-Gouverneur  de  la  Province  de  Quebec. 

Monsieur  C.  Baillairg^, 

Ingenieur  Civil,  Quebec. 


Hotel  du  Gouvernement. 

Quebec,    iSjuin  1877. 

MoN  CHER  Monsieur, 

S'il  vous  etait  possible  de  passer  k  r.ion  bureau,  j'aurais  le  plaisir  de  savoir 
que  vous  consentez,  i  entrer  dans  le  cercle  des  Auteurs  Canadiens,  dont  je  desire 
m'entourer  intimement,  de  temps  a  autres  a  Spencer  Wood. 

Bien  k  vous, 

L.  LETELLIER, 
M.  C.  Baillargd,  Quebec. 


54 
2703/3C 


